Planning your service
Types of services and relevant legislation
In planning a new service, you will need to understand the type of service you are considering and the relevant legislation and regulations that will apply. The Queensland Government provides detail on the
different types of early childhood services that may operate in Queensland.
Most education and care services including long day care, outside school hours care (OSHC), family day care and kindergartens are regulated under the NQF; the information on this page and sub-pages relates to these services. If the service you are planning to operate is not one covered by the NQF, it may be regulated under the
Education and Care Services Act 2013 (Qld) (ECS Act). Read the
ECS Act page for more details.
Building and planning considerations
Development approval
Local government authorities are responsible for approving development applications under the applicable local government planning scheme, including how an existing building or piece of land is used. Approved providers are responsible for ensuring the correct approvals have been granted.
Please contact the relevant
local government authority if you have any questions about development application approvals.
Service premises
The service premises must meet the requirements of the:
The Regulatory Authority may refuse a service application if it does not meet the requirements, or poses an unacceptable risk to children’s safety, health and wellbeing,
regardless of whether the local council has approved the proposed site and development. Approved providers should also be aware of how any conditions on the development approval (such as barriers that enclose outdoor space or limitations on the number of occupants) may impact their ability to meet the requirements under the NQF.
For important information on building and planning considerations under the NQF, read the Regulatory Authority's guidance on:
After all efforts have been made to meet the requirements, approved providers may apply for a
waiver in certain circumstances where they are unable to do so. Read more about
waivers for physical environment.
Staffing roles and qualification requirements
There are requirements for adequately staffing early childhood education and care services which approved providers must consider when establishing a new service. This includes filling specific roles, ensuring staff have the appropriate qualifications and ensuring all are suitable.
Read about
staffing roles and qualification requirements for both centre-based and family day care services.
Policies and procedures
Approved providers must ensure the required policies and procedures from
National Regulations 168 and
169 are adequate. Inadequate policies and procedures may constitute an unacceptable risk to the safety, health or wellbeing of children. This is one of the grounds for the Regulatory Authority to refuse a service approval application.
Before applying for service approval, approved providers should read more about how to ensure
policies and procedures are adequate and why they are one of the department's regulatory priorities. For guidance and examples of policies and procedures, visit the
ACECQA website.
If you intend to operate your service outside of standard hours, read our fact sheet on
overnight and evening care to understand the additional considerations and requirements.
Management companies
If you intend to engage a management company to run the proposed service, please note that persons with management or control (PMCs) are still responsible for the operation of an education and care service under the National Law, and cannot divest their obligations to a management company. All PMCs must therefore still provide evidence of management capability, which may include completing an online assessment and/or attending an interview. Read more on the
assessment of provider approval applications page.
Lodging a service approval application
When to submit
Applicants wishing to open a new service at the start of a calendar year should lodge their application for service approval before October in the previous year. A peak period for service approval applications occurs between October and January, and applying before the peak will allow assessment, as well as time for requests for further information, before the proposed opening day of the new service.
Applicants may apply at any time once they have all the prescribed information and documentation below.
What to submit with your application
For guidance on what to consider when putting together an application, you should:
If your application does not meet the requirements, the Regulatory Authority will consider it to be incomplete and advise you in writing, specify what is outstanding and set a time period for sending it. If you do not comply, the Regulatory Authority will close the application, refund the fee and advise you in writing.
It is an offence to knowingly provide false or misleading information or documents to the Regulatory Authority.
Regardless of what service type you plan to operate, the Regulatory Authority will request policies and procedures referred to in
regulation 168 as part of the application assessment, so although you do not need to submit them with your application, it is essential that they are ready.
For applications for
centre-based services, you will need to:
- submit all prescribed information under
regulation 24, including a statement that policies and procedures under
regulation 168 have been prepared
- if any policies and procedures are not prepared, you must indicate which ones and why (e.g. if they are reliant upon the final premises design and/or construction)
- submit all prescribed information under
regulation 25 including relevant building and planning documents, noting that
- if the documents are not ready because the building is not complete, you will still need to submit them before the application can be finalised
- you should consult your building practitioner to ensure the plans show everything required
- pay an
application fee.
For applications for
OSHC services where the premises are on a school site, you will not need the following requirements under
regulation 25 unless the Regulatory Authority specifically requests them:
- fences, gates, nappy change, food preparation area and landscaping on the building plans
- soil assessment requirement
- planning permits
- occupancy permit/building requirements.
For applications for
family day care services, you will need to:
- submit all prescribed information under
regulation 26, including a copy of the proposed policies and procedures from
regulation 169 and a statement that the policies and procedures under
regulation 168 have been prepared
- if any policies and procedures under regulation 168 are not prepared, you must indicate which ones and why (e.g. if they are reliant upon the final premises design and/or construction)
- pay an
application fee
- (if requesting a place other than a residence as a venue for the service) submit evidence of exceptional circumstances
How to submit
Visit
ACECQA for details on the process of lodging applications for provider approval, including submitting
your application in the National Quality Agenda IT System (NQA IT System). Read the
NQA IT system user guide (PDF, 12.5MB) to help you through lodging applications.
Assessment of service approval applications
Approach
The Regulatory Authority takes a risk-based approach to assessing applications. Read more about our approach,
regulating for quality, and our
procedure for determining applications for early childhood services.
The Regulatory Authority will assess the application against the requirements for service approval under the
National Law and
National Regulations, including but not limited to the:
- capability of the applicant to operate the service
- adequacy of the
policies and procedures of the service
- appropriateness of the
service premises (for centre-based services only).
As part of the assessment process, the Regulatory Authority may request further information, request the completion of an online assessment and/or seek to interview the approved provider and inspect the proposed education and care premises (refer
sections 45 and
46 of the National Law). If this occurs, you will be notified in writing.
Once the assessment is complete, the Regulatory Authority will advise the applicant in writing of the outcome of the decision. Read the
licensing decisions page for more information.
Timeframes
Assessment of an application for service approval commences when all prescribed information has been provided. The Regulatory Authority must decide applications for service approval within
90 days.
If the Regulatory Authority requests further information, the time taken to provide it is not included in the 90 day timeframe. If the Regulatory Authority does
not receive the requested information within the specified time period, the application may be assessed against the requirements of the National Law and National Regulations based on the information already received.
Read the service approval section in ACECQA's
guide to the National Quality Framework for more information about timeframes for assessing service approval applications and how this is calculated.
Help and support
If you have questions about service approvals, please email
ecis@qed.qld.gov.au.
Access more
supporting resources for applications from ACECQA.